How Teachers Can Help Younger Kids Learn About The Environment

Instilling environmental awareness in children early on helps them become engaged caretakers of
the planet when adults. It can seem like the environmental crisis we’re currently in is too much for
kids to handle. Effectively conveying complex ecological concepts requires creative, hands-on
approaches tailored to younger learners. Here are techniques UK teachers use successfully to teach
children about environmental stewardship.

Lead Nature Walks And Garden Lessons

Experiencing the natural world first-hand through seasonal nature walks, gardening sessions and
recording outdoor observations connects kids directly to habitats and cycles sustaining life. Spotting
wildlife and growing plants captivates children through immersive learning.

Make Recycling And Composting Fun

Have supervised classroom projects repurposing used materials into art, instruments, or structures.
Foster friendly competition between student teams striving to collect the most recyclables weekly.
Compost snack scraps together in a classroom worm bin. Engaging in activities builds lifelong habits.

Demonstrate Science Experiments

Simple experiments like creating miniature landfills with trash items, testing air quality using plants,
and examining the impact of oil spills on feathers allow kids to witness environmental phenomena
visually. Interactive demonstrations stick with young minds.

Read Stories Highlighting Relationships In Nature

Beautifully illustrated storybooks about species cooperating highlight the interdependence and
balance of ecosystems in engaging ways. Read stories demonstrating how animals, plants and
habitats rely on one another. Vivid narratives inspire compassion for the natural world.

Plan Residential School Trips With Lots Of Outdoor Time

Escaping classrooms for living laboratories like nature centres, hiking trails, and zoos provides direct
exposure to ecosystems and conservation. Even brief immersive experiences bonding kids with
nature can spark a lifelong interest in protecting the environment. School residentials can make such
an impact, and PGL is dedicated to providing the kind of experience that kids will never forget. Get in
touch with them to learn more about how their trips can unlock environmental interest.

Incorporate Environmental Topics Across Subjects

Weaving environmental themes into language lessons, maths story problems, and art projects
reinforces the ubiquity of ecological issues, not just relegating them to science class. Green topics
discussed routinely become normalised and easier to get a handle on.

Take Local Action As A Class

Organise class initiatives like adopting a beloved green space for regular litter clean-ups, creating
birdfeeders and houses for the school grounds, or writing persuasive letters to community leaders
about environmental issues important to kids. Applied learning inspires.

Highlight Young Activists And Scientists

Uplift diverse young role models making a wildlife conservation difference worldwide, like Bindi
Irwin or Greta Thunberg. Read modern figures alongside classics like David Attenborough. Passionate
youth leaders make environmental work relatable and accessible.

Cultivate Empathy For All Creatures

Foster compassionate coexistence mindsets through classroom pets, bird feeding stations outside
windows, and ensuring ethical treatment of animals across lessons. Kindness towards fellow
creatures lays the groundwork for broader ecological empathy.

Make Conservation Positive And Constructive

While alerting kids to sobering realities, counterbalance urgent threats with upbeat news
highlighting recovery successes, species brought back from the brink, and communities sustainably
safeguarding special wild places through determination. Keep solutions-focused messaging driving
hope over despair.

Equipping younger students with practical knowledge grounds abstract issues like climate change
and extinction with tangible actions and connections stoking their inherent wonder about nature.
Experiential learning today inspires thoughtful environmental leaders tomorrow.